What storage should I use for a outlook plugin?

Question

What storage system should I use , If i'm going to deploy a outlook plugin with VSTO ?

Is it possible to use outlook's , which is for email ?

UPDATE

I thought about SQL Express , but I think I should use the same thing with what outlook uses , that would save troubles

What do you want to put into storage? User settings? Do they need to be global/roaming or machine-specific? — SliverNinja - MSFT, Apr 16 '12 at 12:45
@SliverNinja data that's better stored in database , like special information related to contacts , I thought about SQL Express , but I think I should use the same thing with what outlook uses , that would save troubles — daisy, Apr 16 '12 at 12:46
What will be the consumer of the persisted data - only your Outlook plugin or do other clients need to interface with it? — SliverNinja - MSFT, Apr 16 '12 at 12:48
@SliverNinja no , as long as I can handle the data within the outlook plugin , it's all good ; besides , I can write an exporter for it — daisy, Apr 16 '12 at 13:00
@warl0ck Hi, which approach among those mentioned in the anser was more suitable for you? I am trying to achieve something on the similar lines. — Teja, Feb 29 '16 at 03:38

score 18 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:02

There are numerous options for you to consider, below I've listed all the ones I've seen used in the past.

For Outlook-managed storage you could look into using StorageItem which is a hidden item inside a given folder (Inbox, etc.). Using the StorageItem you can add custom user properties and file attachments.
You can also create new Folder and mark it as hidden using the PR_ATTR_HIDDEN flag. Adding any mail items or journal items would only be visible to your add-in since you can access hidden folders via the API - but not via Outlook interface.
I've also seen users store information inside Outlook journal items serialized as XML (as is done by jello-dashboard).
You could create a custom store via AddStore to construct a local PST.
Alternately, you could store data external to the Outlook system for consumption by your addin. External stores could be local Environment paths, local/remote databases, or web service calls.

@SilverNinja is There a way to show the StorageItem inside of the folder? It seems like I cant see it. Which file type does the hidden item have? — Moritz Schmidt, Apr 11 '17 at 12:52

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